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Spindrift Testing - Chilling in the name of Science!

Got to give the Spindrift a test run last night. Here are some thoughts on the process:

1. Installation: Easy, but a little time consuming. I had no trouble getting the suspension lines through the grommets. I will be making a separate set of shock cords for the spindrift as salvaging the ones off my bugnet is a bit of a pain. Otherwise, it went on without any problems.

2. Ease of setup with the spindrift on: Pretty simple. Threw on my headlight, installed the spreader bars and lynx. It's a little tight with the spindrift on, but definitely not a big problem. It is however a bit of a trial to get a pad in with the spindrift installed. I have a thermarest z-lite and it folds up pretty easy, so it makes things simpler, but I imagine blow up pads would take some planning.

3. Temps: With windchill last night, it got down to about 7f. I decided to test my 30f montbell bag and 20f lynx, no pad. For clothing, I wore a pair of light jogging pants, a very thin merino shirt, a thin polyp shirt, a very light fleece vest, a merino hat, possum down gloves, wool socks and a pair of Grandma fabricated knitted wool oversocks .

4. Reasoning and Results: I wanted to test this setup to what I would consider a "worst case" scenario. Years back, the Brother and I took a trip to Tonquin Valley in Jasper Park in which the temps dropped by 18 deg celcius overnight and we nearly froze in the middle of summer. Since that time, I've been torn with bringing "overkill" insulation and associated weight and bulk with me on trips to the mountains due to the crazy temperature and condition swings. The Spindrift offers a substantial temperature boost and weather protection with little extra bulk and only 10 ounces weight difference. In my reasoning, I could install it prior to a trip to the mountains, pack my regular summer/3 season gear of 20-30 top quilt, and my 20 degree lynx. If its warm out, keep it unzipped for circulation, but if temps drop, button it up.
Being honest, I'd have to say that it was not the warmest night of my life last night. About 3am, I woke up shivering slightly, did a few crunches to warm myself up and went back to sleep. I was not overly uncomfortable, but a little cool. However, I was pushing my underquilt about 13deg under rating and my topquilt nearly 23deg under rating! I think that is fantastic result for the minimal associated bulk and weight of the spindrift and gives me a real-world baseline for future trips.

5. Overall impression: Exceptional bang-for-the buck if you are looking to get a moderate boost out of your existing insulation or think you may encounter unexpected cold, rainy, or windy weather conditions along the way. It's not a substitution for proper winter gear, but definitely a great supplement to a winter setup. I would install it before a trip, with the knowledge that if things hit the fan, I've got it ready to go. Really impressed!

awesome. that's what i love about HF. folks are willing to walk the talk, and do the real world testing that is necessary to see if things will work out in the bush. Kudos to you!

Thanks Sturgeon! Tried again last night, expecting it to be a little colder out. Woke up to 7 deg this morning, and it hit an overnight low of about 0 deg f with windchill.

This time around I supplemented the 20deg lynx with a z-lite pad and threw an old synthetic mountain hardware bag over my 30deg montbell bag. Woke up again at 3:00am, but this time it was because I was way too hot. Had to open up the spindrift entirely and actually get out, walk around a bit, and get back in! Slept from 11:00 pm until 9:00am this morning. (There is some voodoo in the Ridgerunner!) When I woke up this morning, there was an enormous amount of condensation on top of the MH bag, and a fair bit on the roof and zipper of the spindrift. I am assuming that it came from my breath, as both my inner sleeping bag, the z-lite and the lynx were dry. I imagine that it would have helped a lot if I had left the zipper of the spindrift open a little, or woke up to notice the problem, but when I get into this hammock, I appear to enter some sort of coma.